Paddlebox steps on Reliant

[Tony Mattson]

Greetings Stuart,
I wonder if I may draw upon your knowledge of 'Old Trafford'
and 'Reliant' - regarding the steps on the paddleboxes.

In the plans I have for Reliant, the front paddlebox steps on each
side rise from the sponson in one flight to the top, to a platform
spanning the width of the paddlebox. They then descend down aft along
the side of the outboard storage locker/galley/ship's head to the
sponson.

However there are a couple of pictures at:

http://website.lineone.net/~d.ord/Tugs%20and%20Ships.htm

which suggest that there are a couple of extra steps below the
platform on top of the paddlebox in the 1960's. On the photo of
Reliant under steam there appears to be a single step just below the
top platform on the outside of the right box, and on the 1970 photo
of Reliant under tow, the left paddlebox appears to have a single
step half way up the outside of the left box (such a sad photo this
second one).

Can you shed any light on these extra steps? Are they perhaps later
additions, maybe added after the sponsons were shortened?

My plans also show fancywork under the leading edge of each step yet
this doesn't appear in the photos. Might this again have been removed
at some stage?

Curious to know more. Many thanks

Tony

[Stuart Badger]

Well Tony!

If they are steps then I know nothing about them other than there appears to be something on the paddle boxes. However if one looks REALLY closely do you think that it could be missing and broken planks from the paddle boxes themselves?? As for the fancy work - I don't know which drawings you are working from but very often builders would embelish plans with decoration that never made it to the finished vessel.

All the best

Stuart

[Tony Mattson]

Good grief Stuart, do you have insomnia to be able to reply so
promptly! :-0

The paddleboxes are certainly in average condition in both photos
with some of the decorative vents broken in places - and in the
second shot the right box appears to have disappeared entirely,
leaving only the inboard wall.

What's more, I can't think why there would be steps out on the edge
of the boxes as well as inboard, so you could well be spot on about
these 'extra steps' being missing or broken planks from the boxes
themselves. They certainly don't feature on the Manchester Ship Canal
plans of Old Trafford that are in Thomas's 'British Steam Tugs' or in
Macgregor's plans.

As to the plans, I'm using David MacGregor's drawings, (prepared from
the Nat Maritime Museum and measurements of his own and from EN
Wilson in '72) but they are a third or 4th generation copy - which
means that some of the lines are pretty indistinct. The fancy work
shows up on them, but clearly not on these two photos.

Hmmmm, something to think about ....
... but not worth losing sleep over, that's for sure!

Cheers for now and many grateful thanks once again for all your
assistance.
Tony